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I cannot remember where, nor in what context, but at some point I seem to recall that if one makes non-trivial transfers of money into or out of Italy that this must be reported in some fashion. Up to this point for us these have been wire transfers from the USA into Italy for a real estate purchase and associated expenses. Although we have no immediate plans for transfers from Italy into the USA I seem to recall that this too has some kind of "special" procedure.

Any insights would be very welcome as I have not yet found anything on the Agenzia Entrate web site. Of course this could easily be because some other bureaucracy handles this similar to the FinCEN/FBAR nonsense for US citizens with foreign financial accounts.

There is an international standard for the banks and other financial institutions that requires reporting to the appropriate financial authorities of any transfer of funds (or investment instruments) greater than $10,000 (into or out of the US), and more than €10,000 (into or out of any Eurozone country). I believe there may be a couple EU countries with a lower threshold - possibly as low as 5000€ - but I am not sure what countries may be involved.

It's usually the bank or the financial institution making the transfer that is responsible for the reporting. Usually includes source, destination, name of the person or entity making the transfer and some statement of the "reason" for the transfer.

Thanks for the responses. I knew about the financial institution reporting and we did receive the questions about purpose of the transfer, source of funds, etc.. but I was concerned that there was something that we had to do. If nobody is chiming in with terrifying horror stories then I will just assume that all is well.

Don't know what the limits are for Italy, but usually there is a limit to amounts that can be paid in cash. Any transaction over the limit must be done in a "traceable" manner - either check (where those are still used), bank (SEPA) transfer or a credit card payment.

While researching a different question I came upon a blog post from an expat tax filing service that has an interesting statement.

Quote:

Reporting Requirements

The Italian Tax Authority requires expats to report all assets held outside the country, including savings accounts and property. If you hold assets outside of Italy, you must file a monitoring return form along with your Italian tax return, which is due September 30 each year. In addition, all investment or cash transfers in and out of the country must be reported. At the present time there is no plan to tax the assets or transfers, but failure to file the monitoring form may result in stiff penalties.

I cannot asses the validity of this as we are not yet residents nor have we needed to yet file an Italian tax return. The post is dated from 2012 and claims to have been updated in 2014. I do not know if I am allowed to post a link to the commercial site nor if I can supply the name of the tax service.

While researching a different question I came upon a blog post from an expat tax filing service that has an interesting statement.

I cannot asses the validity of this as we are not yet residents nor have we needed to yet file an Italian tax return. The post is dated from 2012 and claims to have been updated in 2014. I do not know if I am allowed to post a link to the commercial site nor if I can supply the name of the tax service.

Kevin

Are they referring to Italians living outside Italy? Non-Italians living within Italy? Or, dual-citizens residing in Italy?

I can tell you for sure, that Italy taxes the foreign-based assets of the last group. In other words, as a dual US/Italy citizen, if I become tax-resident in Italy (by virtue of spending more than 183 days there in a calendar year), I will owe a wealth tax on my cash and other assets (such as a home or other real property) that I continue to own in the US.

I suspect that Italy may very well require disclosing foreign assets for all those subject to filing an Italian tax return. Most of the other European countries require something like this, due to the OECD anti-money laundering rules. It's normally just a matter of reporting the financial accounts (and possibly foreign assets, like land and buildings) with information about the account numbers and address of the bank or financial institution holding the funds.

There is a similar reporting requirement here in France (part of the income tax forms) - for foreign bank accounts and foreign "assurance vie" (i.e. "life insurance" contracts with an investment component).

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